A few of years ago, my husband and I took our first trip to New Orleans — just a couple of Yankees from Brooklyn ready to brave the swampy heat in exchange for some good times, new tastes, and a stroll down the magnolia tree–lined streets.

While there, we donned powdered sugar mustaches after snacking on beignets at Cafè du Monde, sampled as many hot sauces as we could find, and got tipsy on Sazeracs and Abita beer. But one thing we completely missed was Steen's — a family–made brand of cane syrup produced in Abbeville, Louisiana (150 miles west of New Orleans) since 1910.

It's a shame, too. The caramel–flavored, burnt gold–colored syrup, which is made from juice extracted from raw sugar cane stalks and boiled down until thick, is a Louisiana classic — the Creole and Cajun answer to maple syrup. And Steen's is one of the last functioning cane syrup mills in the country, paying tribute to Louisiana's long history as a sugar cane producer.

While undeniably sweet, cane syrup has a toasty, slightly bitter twang. Unlike corn syrup, which can be one aggressively saccharine note of flavor, and molasses, which can overwhelm certain dishes, cane syrup's buttery flavor is complex without being overpowering.

Drizzle it in place of maple syrup on pancakes or waffles, substitute it for molasses and corn syrup in baked beans, in meat glazes, or in homemade wet nuts to top your sundae. Stir it into a Caribbean-inspired rum punch, or bake it into a traditional gâteau au sirop, a Cajun syrup cake.

Finding Steen's up here in maple syrup country can be tricky, but it is always available online, or you can make it yourself with our recipe.

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